Hunger striker's wife gets him to take food

Yuri Balovlenkov accepted food for the first time in 36 days Monday after his wife, Elena, led him to believe he would be given a visa to join her in the United States, Mrs. Balovlenkov said.

According to Mrs. Balovlenkov, she was only stretching the facts. What a Soviet visa official actually told her was that authorities do not want Mr. Balovlenkov to die, but they can do nothing as long as he's on hunger strike. They did not explicitly promise him a visa, she said.